Antibiotics Prevent Livestock Losses

Cutting back on antibiotics use poses hurdles for hog farmers
BY PHILIP BRASHER • PBRASHER@DMREG.COM • AUGUST 22, 2010

State Center, Ia. - The Obama administration would like to see more hog farmers raising hogs the way the Hilleman brothers do - using fewer antibiotics.

But raising hogs with fewer antibiotics has its challenges, the brothers say. One big one: Some of the black Berkshire hogs grunting and rooting around the Hillemans' barns are likely to get sick and die before they're ready for market. That's because it's sometimes impractical to treat them, the brothers say.

Randy, Mark and Tom Hilleman raise the hogs for a local cooperative, Eden Farms, that markets Berkshire pork to high-end restaurants.

Farmers who raise Eden Farms pork earn a premium price for the pigs, because the Berkshires are valued by chefs at high-end restaurants because of the hogs' fatter, darker meat.

But farmers who supply Eden Farms cannot use antibiotics for growth promotion, a common practice on conventional farms, and they cannot use the drugs at all if the hogs are within 100 days - more than three months - of going to slaughter.

If a sick pig doesn't get better on its own, it's likely to get a shot of an antibiotic, unless the animal is under the 100-day drug ban. If the hogs are given antibiotics then, they can only be sold as conventional hogs, and that means keeping a treated animal in a separate pen or marking it in some way to make sure it wasn't mixed with the hogs that will be marketed under the Eden Farms label. But the Hillemans say it's impractical for them to treat the pigs and handle them separately. For every 100 hogs they raise, the brothers figure that two or three die of pneumonia or some other illness. The Hillemans send about 100 to 150 hogs to market each week.    Read More
 
When we hear people outside of ag demanding antibiotics be limited or banned for use in livestock, they rarely seem aware of the consequences of those demands. The bottom line is more livestock will suffer through disease or die as a result. Regardless of production method, all livestock will be more prone to disease, suffer more because of it, and put more pressure on our food production system. There will always be ways we can improve our use of these tools, but making demands of livestock producers without changes in other antibiotic uses will only contribute to the unnecessary suffering of livestock.

Consequences of a Ban

Manitoba Ban on Swine Expansion Expected to Discourage Environmentally Friendly Farming
Farmscape for September 22, 2008 (Episode 2966)

The Manitoba Chamber of Commerce warns the province's proposed ban on swine industry development in eastern Manitoba will discourage the adoption new technologies designed to make hog farming more environmentally friendly.

Bill 17, which proposes a ban on swine barn construction or expansion in most of eastern Manitoba was introduced in the legislature for third reading last week and debate on the bill will resume this week.

A rally is planned for Wednesday at the legislature to protest Bill 17 and promote an amendment to the bill proposed by Manitoba Pork Council.

Manitoba Chambers of Commerce President Graham Starmer says, in many cases, operations will need the flexibility to restructure if they are to afford the cost of adopting new technology that is extremely environmentally friendly. Link

Livestock producers will always try to be as environmentally friendly as possible because their livelihood depends on it. However, many of these new technologies can be very expensive to implement. If an operation no longer has the ability to grow, just as every small business owner hopes to do, then these costs can be very difficult to justify.

Livestock & Flooding

Iowa farmer makes a sorrowful choice

By David Greising Tribune correspondent
2:42 AM CDT, June 18, 2008

OAKVILLE, Iowa - By the time a friend sped up the lane to Ron Lanz's farm Saturday evening—shouting that the Iowa River levee had blown—Lanz knew he faced a fateful decision: To save his own life, more than 800 of his hogs would have to die.

By instinct, Lanz shut the door on the semitrailer that was half-filled with hogs. He feared a wall of water might rush across his 450-acre farm any minute. Then Lanz jumped into the bed of his friend's pickup truck and rode for his life.I

t's a decision Lanz is having a hard time living with."It's devastating to leave those hogs behind," said Lanz, 36. "I don't like to think about it." Read More

If anyone ever questions the dedication of livestock producers, they only need to watch them during a time of crisis. Floods have been decimating many parts of the Midwest and producers have had to make many tough choices about how best to save the animals they care for. Hopefully the water will soon recede and these producers can begin putting their lives back together.

Taking the Odor out of the Manure

Treating Hog Manure with Borax Cuts Odor
By Jan Suszkiw June 3 , 2008

Hydrogen sulfide is one of the compounds contributing to the stink from manure storage pits on hog farms. Microbial activity in the manure releases the hydrogen sulfide and other compounds.

Today, at an American Society of Microbiology meeting in Boston, Mass., Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientist Cheryl Spence reports the results of a study in which "dusting" hog manure with borax powder--the same substance used in laundry detergents--helps to neutralize the malodorous microbes, which include sulfate-reducing (SR) and other anaerobic bacteria. Read More

Technology in agriculture is progressing as rapidly as in other industries. In the pork industry, they have been continually looking at ways to deal with odors associated with raising hogs. It appears as though borax may be a simple and inexpensive way to deal with it.

How about Pigs AND People

Pigs vs. People?
Wayne County, NY


What do you get when you gather 2,000 pigs under one roof? Tons of bacon, lots of manure and undoubtedly some neighbors with concerns.


Last January, when the Town of Rose learned that a CAFO (Contained Animal Feeding Operation) was planned for Brown Road near the hamlet of North Rose, they passed a building moratorium on the construction.


Why the concerns? Gone are the days of the small family farm where a dozen pigs or cows were the center of the family business. The current market scenario favors big mechanized operations where thousands of head of livestock are mass produced for market.


According to Rose Town Supervisor, Lucinda Collier, the temporary six-month ban was enacted so the Town Board could learn more about CAFOs and their impact on the environment and to possibly quell neighbors' concerns. Read More



With the amount of scrutiny being placed on those wishing to build livestock feeding facilities, there is no way the owners would jeopardize their livelihood by not building it correctly. Rather than a conflict of interest, the hiring of a CAFO specialist should show the residents of this area that these are responsible neighbors trying to do everything right.

Smithfield Fights Odor Lawsuits

Smithfield set to fight Mo. lawsuits individually

By Lisa M. Keefe on 4/25/2008 for Meatingplace.com


Smithfield Foods Inc. has decided to litigate a series of lawsuits by residential neighbors of several of its hog farms in Missouri rather than agree to an out-of-court settlement.

In accordance with the court's direction, it will take on the cases one-by-one. The company decided to continue with litigation, after rejecting a $75 million settlement offer by plaintiff's attorneys that would have covered 31 cases brought on behalf of some 275 people.

The residents are suing over the odor produced by the hog operations. The cases originally were filed against Premium Standard Farms Inc., and Smithfield assumed the lawsuits when it bought PSF last year for $671 million.

The pros and cons of settling versus litigating are laid out in a Feb. 25 memo to Smithfield CEO C. Larry Pope by a company executive and one of its outside lawyers. The confidential memo was distributed to the company's Board of Directors in April. It inadvertently wound up in the hands of a reporter at the Kansas City Star, and is now posted on that newspaper's Web site here.

Among the company's considerations is the fact that, among three lawsuits on this issue that already had been litigated, the company had fared far better when the case concerned a single residence, rather than several residences and families, according to the memo.

Also, in fighting the cases one-by-one, the memo notes that the likely length of the litigation would be taxing on plaintiffs' counsel, although it would exact a price on Smithfield, as well, in the form of direct cost, distraction and the need to carry financial reserves related to the lawsuits.

The internal document also notes that the court could decide to aggregate the cases after all, the better to clean up the court's docket and dispose of the cases on a collective basis.

The next case on this matter is set for October. Link (subscription requried)

Modern hog operations have implemented a variety of technologies that have greatly reduced odor problems typically associated with hog production. While we don’t know the specifics of each of these lawsuits, I would imagine that some of the people that are filing these lawsuits will not be happy unless they completely shut down the operations in their area.